January 30, 2011, 5:51 PM ·
Now that the NBC Universal/Comcast deal has closed, what will the merger of the parent of the Universal Studios theme parks with the nation's largest cable company mean for those parks?

Well, at least initially, it's going to mean a lot more company employees will be coming through the gates.

When employees of the new NBCUniversal (Hey, it's a merger, let's… get rid of the space!), gathered at site meetings Friday to learn about their new cable TV overlords corporate siblings, the full-time employees were all given $600 worth of Comcast stock, plus four free one-day passes to the Universal theme parks.

Unlike Disney, which showers its employees with theme park tickets, under the old Universal management, NBC employees spent fewer days free in their own theme parks than Charlie Sheen's spent sober. Perhaps the new management is wising up and realizing what Disney's long known, that employees can be the best advocates for your company's products, and that free theme park tickets help make happier, more enthusiastic employees.

One NBCUniversal employee wrote to me. Forget about the free stock, he said, "trust me, what has everyone talking is the free ticket to the theme parks."